


Command Me To Be Well

by pandorabox82



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Gen, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:53:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22022866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandorabox82/pseuds/pandorabox82
Summary: After Penelope is shot, Erin finds herself worried about what that will mean for the team. But in going to check up on her, will she instead be confronted with questions that she doesn't quite have the answers for?
Kudos: 1





	Command Me To Be Well

Erin felt her whole body go cold when she received the call from Aaron. This was her worst nightmare come to life, and it just had to happen to the one person in the BAU that she secretly adored. After all, it didn't do to have favorites, and she was entirely certain that the woman in question would scoff at the notion that she even liked her, let alone thought of her fondly. "What hospital has she been brought to?" she managed to choke out, and it took a moment for him to answer. "All right, thank you. Keep me informed of her condition."

"Of course, ma'am."

There was barely concealed hostility in his voice, and she knew that she deserved that after everything she had put his team through. Though given the immense scrutiny that they were under, it was only natural for her to be hard on them. They had stepped out of line so many times, and each one was harder to justify than the last. They would never understand that, though, as they got the results that led to so many cases being closed. Rubbing her face with her hands, she pushed herself to her feet and padded over to the closet, not particularly relishing getting dressed once more, but knowing that a good leader went to check on her team when it was hurting.

Eschewing the more formal suits that she wore to the office, Erin pulled on a long, soft, skirt and thin sweater, knowing that she could be in a waiting room for hours as she waited on news of Ms. Garcia's condition. Then she grabbed a book off her TBR pile, knowing that she would need something to keep her distracted or else her mind would run crazy. Hurrying downstairs, she stepped into her shoes and stuffed the book into her purse before grabbing her keys off the hook near the door and going out to the garage.

The drive seemed to take forever, and she allowed valet parking to take care of her vehicle rather than waste time finding her own spot before rushing into the hospital. A part of her recognized that she needed to appear a little more in control, and she drew in a deep breath as she forced herself to calmly walk over to the information desk, pulling out her credentials as she went. "Hello, I'm Section Chief Erin Strauss. One of my technical analysts was brought here a little while ago, Penelope Garcia?"

The woman at the information desk gave her a small nod as she tapped away at her keyboard. "It appears that Ms. Garcia is still in surgery. Give me a moment, and I'll write down the pertinent information on where to wait for her and directions there."

Erin nodded as she tried to keep from impatiently tapping her toe against the floor. This was neither the time nor place to be rude, even though that might stem from her anxiousness over Ms. Garcia's condition. Finally, the woman was done writing and she handed the piece of paper over to Erin. "Thank you, I appreciate this."

"You're welcome. Now, the north elevators are a little tricky to find, so I'll accompany you there. If you get lost once you're on the correct floor, just ask any nurse or porter, and they'll be able to direct you to where you need to be. I hope that everything turns out well for your colleague."

Erin nodded as they walked down the halls, trying to pay attention to the turns that they made as they went. There seemed to be too many, though, and she took a deep breath as they finally stopped in front of the elevators. "Thank you so much for guiding me," she said, trying to be as gracious as possible, even as she felt her tension and anxiety ramp up. The elevator doors opened, and she stepped inside, giving a small wave to her helper before pressing the button for the floor she needed.

She had expected Ms. Garcia to be on the ground floor, since that was where the emergency room was located, but it appeared that she had been brought up to a specialized surgical ward. That sent a small chill down her spine, since she knew that things had to be especially serious for that to occur. When she reached the waiting room for the floor, she peeped her head inside and blanched, seeing that the rest of the Alpha team was currently there, save Agent Morgan. Erin knew that she couldn't be seen there, that they wouldn't understand why she had come, and so she turned on her heel and made her way over to the nurses' station,

"May I help you?" a young man asked as he looked up from the computer monitor, giving her a small smile.

"Yes, I was directed to this floor to await news of my colleague, Penelope Garcia. I know that she is still currently in surgery, but the rest of her team is waiting in the family room already, and as their boss, I am not highly regarded. Is there another place that I could wait for news?"

He gave her a knowing look and then nodded. "We do have another family room on the floor, since things sometime get busy around here and one or the other fills up. If you'd like to follow me?" She nodded and walked a few paces behind him, passing by the currently occupied family room and down a long hall until they reached a different, smaller, room. "Now, I'll make a note in Penelope's file that you are here and need to be updated as well. I hope that she pulls through the surgery."

"Thank you," she whispered as she drifted over to the chair in the corner, by the window. After turning on the lamp on the table, Erin curled up in the chair and pulled her book out of her purse and picked up where she had left off. The pages flew by as she placed all her concentration on the words, using them to calm her mind. She didn't particularly like how much she was bothered by Ms. Garcia's shooting, since there wasn't really a reason for her to have that concern. But there was something about the younger woman that got under her skin, that called her to care about what happened to her.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Erin."

Closing the book on her thumb to keep her place, she looked up to see Aaron standing in the doorway, an inscrutable look on his face. "She's a member of my team, Aaron. Of course I came when you told me the news. I just don't want the rest of your team to know that. I don't think that they would react kindly to my presence, after all." He gave her a small nod as he came over to her side before taken a seat in the chair next to her. "Where do they think you went?"

"To check in with the nurse about how much longer the surgery will take. He was able to tell me that it should be another two hours. I thought I'd update you before heading back to the team."

"Thank you," she said as Aaron reached out to pat her shoulder. "But you really should get back before the others come looking for you. I don't think that they'd be pleased to find you here with me."

Aaron nodded as he rose to his feet. "I hope that you don't think us cruel, ma'am."

She fixed a baleful look at him, trying not to snap in anger. "Cruelty is my specialty, according to scuttlebutt in the office. How could you and your team possibly be any worse than I am." He blinked a few times, as if he had heard the barely restrained hurt in her voice. "I don't want to think about what else you might think of me. Leave, now."

He nodded and turned on his heel, crossing the room in a few long strides. Erin exhaled loudly through her nose as she stared down at her book. There was no way that she would be able to get back into the story now, and she dogeared the page before setting the book aside and pulling her feet beneath her legs to sit in the lotus position as she stared ahead. She could have handled her interaction with Aaron a little better, but he still pushed her buttons, even after all that had happened between them. A part of her knew that he still missed Jason, but there had never been a way for him to stay, and Aaron had rightfully deserved the suspension he had received, even though he thought that she was being petty and cruel, and had used that meeting to lash out at her in the most hurtful way possible.

Letting out a deep sigh, she tried to redirect her thoughts, knowing that wallowing in the hurt and pain would do nothing for her outlook. She thought about Ms. Garcia, laying on an operating table, and wondered what she was thinking about while she was sedated. Erin shook her head as she changed how she was sitting, drawing one knee up against her chest so that she could rest her chin upon it. "This was a fool's errand," she murmured to herself. "There will be no good outcome to this visit."

The minutes ticked by slowly, and Erin found the steady ticking of the clock in the room slowly lulling her into a light sleep. It wasn't until someone cleared their throat that she came back to full wakefulness, and she looked up to see a doctor in scrubs standing before her, a drawn look on his face. "I was told that I have to come down here and inform you of Penelope's prognosis." She nodded, pulling out her credentials to let him know that she was who she was. He gave her a small smile as he took a seat next to her. "So, she came through her surgery all right, there was a little more damage than we had anticipated, but we were able to repair the damage to her diaphragm. I would like to keep her here for a few days, but from the reaction of the others, that might be a problem. I take it that she was shot outside her apartment building?"

"That was what I heard as well. But there hasn't been any progress on finding out who did it. May, may I see her?"

"Penelope is still in recovery, and it will probably take another fifteen minutes for her to wake up and then be brought to a room for the evening. Though if you want to avoid the others who are waiting, I suppose that I could bend the rules a little and take you with me."

Erin nodded a little as she placed her feet on the floor before standing. She weaved on her feet a little as the blood rushed to her extremities, and she shook her head a bit before stretching and looking at him. "I promise, I won't stay too long. I just need to make certain that my analyst is all right. Well, as all right as she can currently be. I know that it will most likely be a long road to recovery, given where she was shot."

The doctor nodded as he placed his hand on the small of Erin's back, leading her from the room and down the hall. The lights were a little too bright after the dimness of the room she had been in, and she blinked owlishly as they went along. "Yes. I would love to impress upon her friends that this will take a while for her to get over physically, but it appears that they feel she's a bit of a miraculous person and doesn't need as much recovery time as a normal person was. That line of thinking is counterproductive to true recovery, and I hope that, as her supervisor, you can drum into them that she needs a bit of the kid glove treatment for at least three weeks, if not longer."

Erin drew in a deep breath as she gave a slow nod. "I will do my best, but they don't like to listen to me. They're a bit maverick at the worst of times, and I think that this would definitely count as that," she said lowly as they entered an all too quiet room. Her eyes were instantly drawn over to the bed that was there, and she let out a soft gasp to see Penelope there, looking so tiny amidst the wires and tubes that were connected to her. "This looks so much worse than I imagined."

"It's a shock, I know, but that's because she isn't awake just yet. It takes some time for the anesthesia to wear off, and then she'll regain a little of her animated spirit and appear a bit more normal. Now, you can't stay here too long, but feel free to go up and talk to her. She most likely can hear you, since she should be starting to wake up."

Erin drew in a shallow breath as she left the doctor's side and went over to Penelope. Reaching out, she took hold of the younger woman's hand and squeezed tenderly, thinking that she looked so much younger with all her makeup cleaned from her face. "Darling, who did this to you?" she said, running her thumb along the back of her hand, wondering when the woman had gone from Ms. Garcia to Penelope in her mind. "You need to wake up and show everyone that you're all right. I do not want to have to choose a new technical analyst for the BAU. And I'd miss your reports, since they're a lot more colorful than your colleagues, so I enjoy them that much more."

Her phone buzzed against her thigh, and she used her free hand to pull it from her pocket and glanced at the screen. It was a message from internal affairs, letting her know that they knew about the shooting, and that since Penelope was on a list, they would be very carefully monitoring the situation. Frowning a little, Erin forwarded that message to Aaron, giving him the head's up as well, before slipping the phone back into her pocket so that she could focus more on Penelope. The woman tightened her grip on Erin's hand, and that told her that she was starting to come around, so she had to get out of there before she fully awoke and took umbrage with Erin being there.

"I'll make certain that you're well taken care of, don't you worry," she whispered before stroking a piece of straggly hair out of the younger woman's face. She was about to leave when the grip tightened further and Penelope's eyes opened to focus on her. She frowned a little, not wanting to shake her hand free, and then Penelope was giving her a tired smile.

"Either I've died and gone to Hell, or I'm alive and you actually have a heart, ma'am."

"You're in recovery right now, Ms. Garcia. Your surgeon allowed me to see you here, since I don't think that your team would appreciate finding me at your bedside. I just needed to see for myself that you were going to be all right."

"Why? You were so mad at me a few weeks ago."

Erin schooled her features into as flat an expression as she could muster before she answered the woman. "Because you're still a member of my team. I am responsible for your well-being, and therefore had to come here. And I wasn't angry with you about your faux pas, I was frustrated because the case was so brutal and you sounded so flippant."

"Oh."

Erin gave Penelope a tight smile before she gently extricated her hand and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "So, now that you're awake, I'll allow the nurses and doctor to get you transferred to your room. I'll be in touch soon to see about your leave."

Before Penelope could say another word, Erin turned on her heel and hurried from the room, feeling like her heart was going to burst from her chest with how hard it was beating. It wasn't until she reached the elevators that she took a full breath, and she pressed her hand against her breastbone in an effort to regulate her heart beating. Stepping into the first elevator that arrived, Erin took one last look down the hall and saw that Aaron was looking at her, giving her a knowing smile, and she frowned at him before stabbing the button for the ground floor.

The wait for her car from valet parking wasn't too long, but she still weaved on her feet a bit, finding that exhaustion was fast settling into her bones. There was no way that she was going to be able to get up on time for work at this rate, so she made the decision to drive into the office and sleep on her sofa. It didn't take too long to reach the office, and the night guard gave her a knowing look as she stepped through the metal detector before heading up to her office. Before she entered the inner space, Erin took a seat at Helen's desk and wrote her a quick note, letting her know to check and make certain that she was awake at eight, if she hadn't turned her light on by then.

With that out of the way, Erin made her way into her inner sanctuary and went over to her closet, toeing off her shoes before grabbing the blanket off the shelf and making her way over to the sofa. Taking a seat, she slipped out of her bra, knowing that she would be uncomfortable sleeping in it, and then stretched out, covering herself with the blanket before quickly falling asleep.

"Chief Strauss?" She woke up to the sound of Helen's voice, and she frowned deeply as she blinked open her eyes. "You told me to wake you up if it got to be eight, and your light wasn't on. Well, it's about quarter past, so I came in here. Do you want me to run and get you breakfast while you freshen up?"

"That would be nice, thank you," she said as she sat up, holding the blanket close to her chest as she gave her assistant a small smile. "I hope you heard about what happened to Ms. Garcia last night?"

Helen nodded as she made her way over to the door. "Yes, and you have about ten messages from different departments asking after her. Oh, and internal affairs is not happy about something. I left all the pertinent information on your desk already."

And with those words, Helen was gone, and Erin was unsteadily rising to her feet, stumbling her way over to the closet as she tried to wake up a little more fully. Knowing that Helen would be a few minutes, she stripped off her worn clothes and let them drop to the floor, knowing that there was nothing to be done about her used undergarments in that moment. Once she was in her fresh suit, Erin grabbed her travel makeup kit and slipped the clean pair of panties into her pocket before making her way to the restroom.

Finally, as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and applied the last coat of lipstick, Erin felt completely refreshed and made her way back to her office. Helen was just entering as well, and they smiled at each other as Erin took the bag and cup from her hands, heading back into her inner office and quickly eating as she read over the emails and messages that she had received over the course of the night. Many were just the same sentiment repeated over and over, and she hastily set those aside, knowing that she could send out a department wide update to keep everyone informed of what had happened and Penelope's prognosis. The message from IA, though, that was going to be something that she couldn't quite easily deal with. That was going to take all her finessing and political maneuverings to smooth that over, if she could. Letting out a deep sigh, she picked up her phone and dialed Adam Fuchs.

She tried not to snort in derision at his name, even though he had worked with them for years and she knew that it wasn't pronounced the way that she heard it in her head. The conversation that she had with him was brief and frustrating, since she couldn't convince him to let her handle it, as the leader of the BAU. Instead, he was officially suspending her supervisory powers until he had figured out if Penelope's past had had a hand in what had happened to her.

Erin found it difficult to concentrate on her work as she thought about Penelope and her condition. She slapped her desktop with anger as her attention wandered for the hundredth time while trying to read through a rather vexing report that her Red Cell team had turned in. A throat cleared, and she looked up to see Aaron standing in front of her desk, a pensive look on his face. "Yes, Aaron?" she asked as she pulled off her reading glasses and indicated for him to take a seat.

He complied and let out a long breath as he rubbed his face with his hand. "This, this is not going to end well, Erin."

"What makes you say that?" she asked as she set her glasses on her desk before folding her hands atop the file she was reviewing.

"Garcia has made a rather large error in judgement. Do you remember that case we worked a while ago? When Agent Greenaway was shot?" Erin nodded, feeling her jaw clench a little as she remembered that case. Gideon had royally screwed the pooch on that one, and she should have suspended him then and there. It was only due to Aaron's intervention that he had managed to not face consequences for nearly getting another agent killed. "Well, ever since that case, Penelope has been keeping all of our information on a private server that only she has access to, and…"

"Let me guess, Agent Fuchs found out about it?" Aaron nodded. "Great. That explains why I've been temporarily asked to step aside while he conducts his investigation. Please tell me that you have some good news."

"Penelope is home."

"What? In what world is that good news? She barely pulled through surgery last night! Who approved that?"

She watched his eyes widen and realized that she had just overplayed her hand by reacting so hotly. Spreading her hands out on her desk, she took a few deep breaths as she waited for his answer. To his credit, he gave her a guilty look as he shrugged. "She doesn't like hospitals, the doctor gave her some good pain medication, and Agent Morgan made certain that her apartment was safe. While it isn't ideal, it's what she wants."

"We'll see about that," she muttered before fixing a narrow glare on him. "I want you to catch the man who shot her, and I want this closed as cleanly as possible." He nodded. "Good. Now, I am going to go see about talking some sense into our technical analyst, because she needs to recuperate in a facility that is sterile and safe. If you'll excuse me."

She rose to her feet and he jumped up to join her, and she couldn't help but notice the faintly amused look on his face. Erin raised an eyebrow at him, and that was when he chuckled a little, his smile growing a tick. "If you think that she'll listen to you on this, I wish you well. She is probably the most stubborn person I have ever met in my life, even more so than you are, if you'll forgive my impertinence. Personally, I hope that you do convince her to go back, for the reasons you mentioned, but I don't think that you'll succeed in your endeavor."

"I will keep that in mind." She gave him a tight smile before slipping into her jacket and slinging her purse over her shoulder. He nodded a little as he went out of her office, and she followed closely behind, locking the door behind her. "Helen, I have an errand to run. I don't know how long I'll be, but hopefully I'll be able to return before the end of the day. If that isn't happening, I'll call and let you know. There are three finished files in my outbox that you can take care of, if you wish."

"All right, Chief Strauss. Stay safe out there."

Her face relaxed into a true smile as she nodded at her assistant. "I'll try. And Aaron, if you hear anything more from Fuchs, please let me know as soon as possible."

"I will, Erin." They nodded to each other as she made her way over to the stairs, heading down to her car. It was faster than waiting for the elevator, and it also allowed her to think a little more clearly. She didn't know why she felt it was so important to head over and talk sense into the woman, but she felt it imperative to do so. A part of her hoped that none of the others were at Penelope's apartment, since she wasn't feeling up to a large confrontation, but that might be exactly what she was in for, and she had to be ready.

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath before getting into her car and plugging Penelope's address into her GPS, allowing that to guide her to the apartment complex where she lived. A small shudder ran through her body when she saw that there were people from their building working on cleaning blood from the stairs, and she bit her lip hard to keep from crying. It had been one thing to almost break down a crime scene where she didn't know the victim, and an entirely different thing to lose control of herself in this situation. She needed to hold onto her emotions, so that Penelope would take her seriously when she commanded her to go back to the hospital.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am," Agent Anderson said, and she gave him a small nod as he opened the door for her. "Ms. Garcia is currently alone, but for an agent positioned outside her apartment. I learned from my mistake last time." He gave her a tight smile before pulling the door closed behind her.

She took a deep breath as she made her way over to the elevator and pressed the up button. Erin tapped her foot anxiously against the floor of the car as it slowly rose up and she tried to find her calm space, knowing that any anger or nervousness would translate in her voice, and that would make Penelope less likely to listen to her. As the doors slid open, Erin drew in a deep breath and straightened her spine as she made her way down the hall towards Penelope's door. It was easy to find, since it was the only one with a guard.

She pulled her credentials out of her purse and showed them to the guard before letting herself inside the apartment. Erin looked around the chaos of color that seemed perfectly right for Penelope. A low groan caught her attention, and she turned her head towards the sound, finding herself trying to look beyond one of those plastic bead novelty curtains at the bed. Penelope was there, sitting against the headboard, and she was unable to stop from clucking her tongue in a motherly fashion as she approached the woman.

"Chief Strauss?! What are you doing here?" Penelope asked as she clutched a blanket close to her chest. Erin gave her a small look as she parted the beaded curtain and joined the woman in her bedroom. "Ma'am?"

"Agent Hotchner informed me of your incredibly foolish and reckless decision to go against medical advice and check yourself out of the hospital to recuperate here. As your supervisor, I came to see for myself if that was true, and much to my consternation, it is." Penelope blushed as she looked away from Erin, a few tears tracking down her face as she gave the smallest of shrugs. From the way her face scrunched up, Erin knew that that tiny gesture had hurt the younger woman immensely, and she felt her mothering instinct kick into overdrive as she approached Penelope and sank down onto the mattress, giving her a sad smile. "Have you at least taken the pain medication they most likely sent you home with?"

"No. My doctor said that the morphine would take another three hours to wear off, and by that time, Der should be back with the extra strength Tylenol. I, I don't want to take anything stronger, just in case I get attached to it."

Those were the words that broke her resolve, and Erin sighed as she leaned in and gently pushed a lock of Penelope's hair out of her eyes. "You were shot, by someone we haven't caught yet. I know that you might not like hospitals, but that's the safest place for you right now. Because you're still healing."

"Correction, I hate hospitals. I watched my mother die in one, there was no way I was going to spend one more minute than necessary inside one, no matter how good it was for me." Fresh tears clouded her eyes, and Erin found herself swallowing another deep sigh as the younger woman covered Erin's hand and pressed it against her cheek. "But why did you come here? You didn't have to."

"I thought that you might listen to an authority figure, Penelope. You need to spend at least two more days in a controlled facility so that you don't end up with something seriously wrong." Penelope's lower lip quivered a little, and Erin rubbed her thumb against her cheekbone in an attempt to soothe her. "You're not going to listen to anything anyone says about this, though. Are you?"

"Probably not. I'm certain that Derek would attest to the fact that I am very stubborn when I have something set in my mind. It's too bad that you can't just command me to be well."

"I'm not the miracle worker, that would be you, according to Agent Hotchner's evaluations. Have you eaten anything today?"

She shook her head, wincing a little at the movement. "But I don't really feel hungry, either."

"Do you have any broth in your apartment?"

"No."

Erin shook her head and got up from the bed. "Give me five minutes," she muttered as she went into the living room and picked up a piece of paper and a pen, hastily scrawling out a shopping list. Once that was done, she went to the door and looked out at the guard. "I need you to give this list to Agent Anderson and have him or another agent fill it. If Ms. Garcia is to stay here, against medical advice, this is what she needs to ensure that she might not have to return to hospital."

The man nodded, and took the list from her hand. "Do you have your service weapon, Ma'am?" She nodded. "All right, in three minutes, I'll knock on the door three times, to let you know that I'm back. If that doesn't happen, assume that you need to call Agent Hotchner and let him know that the apartment has been compromised."

"Of course," she smoothly replied, understanding the need for such measures. Turning, she went back into the apartment and locked the door before returning to Penelope's side. "Now, do you need anything to drink while we wait for supplies?"

"I'd like some water, but that would mean I need to use the bathroom, and…I'd rather wait until Emily or Jayje was here for that. No offense, Ma'am, but that's a little personal."

"I understand, but you need to stay hydrated."

Penelope's shoulders sagged as she nodded, and Erin tried not to smirk as she realized that she had just won that round. "Would you at least help me into the living room, then? I'm getting a little bored of the view."

Erin nodded as she helped the younger woman to her feet and then into the living room. "All right, you should put your feet up on the coffee table. Do you want any ice in your glass?"

"No, that's okay." Erin nodded absently as she made her way into the kitchen, opening the cupboard closest to the sink, assuming that the cups would be there. Pulling out two, she let the cold water run while she opened the freezer and put three cubes in her glass before filling them both with water and returning to Penelope, taking a seat next to her on the sofa. "Thank you," she said as she took her glass from Erin's hands. "All right, now it's time for you to be honest with me. Why did you come? It's no secret that there's no love lost between us and you. Why this concern now?"

"Because I couldn't help Agent Greenaway in her time of need. She floundered and escaped before we could help her, and I truly do not wish to see that happen to you." Erin's hand tightened around her glass, to the point where she was worried that it might shatter in her hand, but there was no way that she could loosen her grip, since that would reveal the tremor there. She was getting too personal, and she didn't want to reveal the depth of how much she cared. "Though you might not care, Ms. Garcia, there are a number of us who would be quite upset if you ended up hurt much worse than you should be."

"Oh."

Erin glanced over at Penelope from the corner of her eye and nodded. "And I would be one of those people."

"I see." She heard Penelope's glass hit the table a little forcefully, and she unconsciously pulled away in order to gather her feelings, not wanting Penelope to see beyond the carefully crafted façade she had built for herself over the years. And then, the younger woman's hand was covering her own on the glass, slowly prying it from her hand before setting it aside and then clasping her hand tightly. "There is a lot that we don't know about you, isn't there?"

Erin somehow knew that that was a rhetorical question, but she couldn't stop the small shrug of her shoulders before she used her free hand to pick at invisible pieces of lint on her skirt. The knocking on the door seemed to break the bubble that had enveloped them, and Erin let out a long breath as she relaxed, "That means everything is all right," she said softly as she turned her head to look at Penelope. She was watching her intently, as if trying to figure out how her heart worked, and Erin felt her lips twitch a little before turning upwards in a gentle smile.

"You're beautiful."

She didn't know if she was supposed to hear those words, but they still caused a blush to spread up her neck and across her cheeks. It had been ages since Alan had complimented her, and though she and David had had a thing in the past, it felt like he didn't look at her that way any longer. "And you are sweet," she finally responded, not taking her eyes off Penelope. A curious heaviness filled the space between them, and Erin darted her tongue out to lick at her lips, feeling her stomach twist nervously.

"Maybe you should taste and find out if I really am as sweet as you think I am." She knew that Penelope was teasing her, but it was done in such a flirtatious manner that she knew there was no meanness in it. "Chief Strauss?" She blinked a few times as her lips parted in anticipation of something she wasn't quite certain would happen next. And then that uncertainty was taken away from her as Penelope closed the distance between them and gave her a chaste kiss. It took her a few moments to process what had just happened, and then her eyes were narrowing as she tried to figure out what to do next.

"That was…"

"Sweet?" Penelope said as she gave her a winning smile, and Erin shook her head a little. "I know, probably not the smartest move I've made, but it didn't hurt anything either. I promise, I won't tell anyone or try it again, but I'm good at pushing boundaries, and you were so kind to come check on me. Now, Derek said that he would be by in about twenty minutes, so unless you want to see him, you might want to head out. I know that the others don't particularly see you in the best light, after all. But I wouldn't say no to you coming back tomorrow and checking on me again. Especially since I'm going to be off work for a little while recovering, and the others can't stay out of the field for that long."

She knew that she should probably say no, that she was playing with the most dangerous fire of all, but she also felt like there was something calling her to Penelope, and she had to see this through to the end. Even if it meant that she learned some uncomfortable truths along the way. "As long as you text me when it's safe to come," she murmured, finding herself looking forward to spending more time with the vexing woman. And no one needed to know that she and Alan had separated recently… Her thoughts were interrupted by the bright smile that spread across Penelope's lips as she nodded, and Erin felt her breath stolen from her lungs at the sight. And that was the moment she knew that something had irrevocably changed between them, and she looked forward to finding out where things would go next.


End file.
